Cadence Weapon

Cadence Weapon

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Hamilton, Ontario

Polaris Prize Winning Artist & Author | Creativity, Innovation & Cultural Insight Expert

  • Expertise
  • Podcasts
  • Media Interviews
  • Books

Cadence Weapon Expertise

  • Brand Strategy & Storytelling
  • Collaboration
  • Communication
  • Change Management
  • Accessibility
  • Adaptability & Agility
  • Belonging
  • Business Technology
  • Consumer Behaviour

*These themes reflect the primary subjects the speaker can address. Please review the topic descriptions and speaker topic ideas below the bio to guide your planning.

Podcast 1

Cadence Weapon

The Rap Music Plug Podcast

Cadence Weapon Interview

Podcast 2

Cadence Weapon

The Cool Table Live

Canadian Hip-hop Legend Cadence Weapon Talks New Book and Gives Advice for Young Artists.

Podcast 3

Cadence Weapon

Beginnings Podcast

Episode 527: Cadence Weapon

Interview 1

Cadence Weapon
Tvo Today
True North Strong: Why Music Matters

Interview 2

Cadence Weapon
Tvo Today
Cadence Weapon: Music, Art, and Resistance

Interview 3

Cadence Weapon
Tvo Today
Cadence Weapon: Making Music, Activating Change

Book 1

Cadence Weapon
Bedroom Rapper: Cadence Weapon On Hip-hop, Resistance and Surviving the Music Industry
Bedroom Rapper is a book for obsessive music fans who are looking for the definitive take on what’s happened in the last two decades of...
Bedroom Rapper: Cadence Weapon on Hip-Hop, Resistance and Surviving the Music Industry

CADENCE WEAPON BIOGRAPHY

Cadence Weapon, the stage name of Roland “Rollie” Pemberton, a Polaris Music Prize winning musician, writer, and cultural commentator based in Hamilton, Ontario. He is widely recognized for his contributions to contemporary music, literature, and public discourse in Canada. Cadence Weapon released his breakthrough debut album Breaking Kayfabe in 2006, establishing a reputation for experimental production and incisive lyricism. The album earned critical acclaim and a Polaris Music Prize shortlist nomination.

Over the course of his career, Cadence Weapon has released six studio albums, five of which have been nominated for the Polaris Music Prize. This distinction places him among the most consistently recognized artists in the award’s history. His 2012 album Hope In Dirt City and his 2021 release Parallel World both received Polaris shortlist recognition. Parallel World ultimately won the Polaris Music Prize, Canada’s highest honour for artistic achievement in music.

Cadence Weapon’s music is known for pairing electronic and industrial influenced production with socially conscious narratives. His work frequently addresses themes of technology, urban life, cultural power structures, and personal identity. Raised in Edmonton, Cadence Weapon grew up immersed in a wide musical landscape shaped by his father, a pioneering hip hop radio DJ. This early exposure informed his ability to move fluidly between underground rap, experimental electronic music, and literary forms.

As a performer, Cadence Weapon has toured extensively across international markets. His festival appearances include Glastonbury, Lollapalooza, Pitchfork Music Festival, Roskilde, and Primavera Sound. Cadence Weapon has collaborated and performed alongside influential artists such as Public Enemy, Questlove, De La Soul, and Diplo. These experiences have contributed to his understanding of creative leadership within complex collaborative environments.

From 2009 to 2011, Cadence Weapon served as Poet Laureate of Edmonton. In this role, he acted as a literary ambassador and contributed to public arts initiatives that brought poetry into civic spaces. His poem The Garden was permanently installed as a bronze sculpture at the Alberta Legislature Grounds in 2018. This work reflects his ability to translate artistic expression into lasting public engagement.

Cadence Weapon has also worked extensively in media and broadcasting. He served as a writer and narrator for the VICELAND television series PAYDAY and Mister Tachyon. His experience as a host, lecturer, and interviewer includes work with CBC q and Red Bull Music Academy. Through these platforms, he has explored creativity, cultural production, and industry transformation.

In 2022, Cadence Weapon published his memoir Bedroom Rapper with McClelland and Stewart. The book chronicles his development from a bedroom producer to an internationally recognized artist. His follow up book, Ways of Listening, examines how audiences discover, interpret, and engage with music in the digital age. The work extends his influence into critical analysis and contemporary cultural theory.

In speaking engagements, Cadence Weapon applies artistic frameworks to organizational and professional contexts. His presentations focus on creative thinking, innovation, perspective shifting, and adaptive problem solving. Cadence Weapon continues to develop new creative projects, including live performance, writing, and recorded music. His work remains relevant to audiences seeking insight into creativity, culture, and innovation in rapidly changing environments.

 

Cadence Weapon Topic Presentations

Cadence Weapon Hamilton, Ontario, Canada delivers keynote presentations, workshops, fireside chats, moderated Q&A, and other presentation formats on a wide variety of topics. Each presentation is unique, customized and tailored for audiences, industries, conferences and event formats.

Unlocking Creative Thinking in Structured Environments

Seeing Differently: Creative Perspective As A Professional Skill

From Concept to Execution: Building Ideas That Endure

Attention Is the New Currency: Creativity in the Digital Age

Culture, Technology, and the Future of Creative Work

Creative Confidence: Trusting Instincts in Structured Systems

Cadence Weapon Speaking Testimonials

Coming Soon!

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FAQ

How to book Cadence Weapon for an event?

Cadence Weapon keynote speaker is an expert presenter and has a wide range of experience speaking to a wide variety of audiences and organizations. Cadence Weapon delivers keynotes, workshops & training sessions. They may also host or emcee events. Hire Cadence Weapon from Hamilton, Ontario for your event to inspire the audience to take action and make change in their work and their lives. Your workplace will benefit from our keynote speaker and their keynote talks and speeches will shift the mindsets or behaviours for the audience members in Canada. 

Interested in booking Cadence Weapon for an event?

Are you looking to hire Cadence Weapon for your event? Cadence Weapon Hamilton, Ontario is a dynamic and engaging speaker that offers audiences researched content paired with expertise and a dynamic speaking ability. Cadence Weapon is also a Canadian corporate consultant and coach and facilitates workshops and training sessions for a corporate audience. Cadence Weapon is an expert keynote presenter and speaks on wide variety of topics. Hiring a great speaker for your event is important and working with a thought leader like Cadence Weapon from Speakers Canada's roster will engage audiences into the content of the presentation to bring awareness and a fresh perspective for their approach to their work and their lives. Book Cadence Weapon to educate, motivate and activate the audience through an interactive and entertaining presentation at corporate meetings and gatherings.

Known as a popular keynote speaker in Canada, Cadence Weapon creates life changing experiences for the participants with practical insights and strategic advice they can implement right after the session. Working with one of our leading expert speaker like Cadence Weapon from Hamilton, Ontario offers organizations a fresh perspective to assist the people of the organization. No matter if it is a government, association, or business crowd, Cadence Weapon is a perfect speaker for your event. Through unique practical insights for trending topics and years experience speaking to different organizations, Cadence Weapon focuses on changing individuals to make better decisions at work and their lives. No matter if you are holding an in person or virtual event, having an influential speaker such as Cadence Weapon will engage, motivate, and activate the audience to make a change in their lives and inspire action for results to meet organizational goals. Your workforce will benefit from Cadence Weapon's presentations and speeches, with measurable results set to shift the people of the organization and core direction of the company. Book Cadence Weapon speaker for your annual general meeting, conference, summit, or convention in Canada.

How much does it cost to hire Cadence Weapon for a keynote presentation or virtual event?

Cadence Weapon is an expert professional keynote speaker with a lot of experience speaking and delivering engaging talks to organizations and audiences in Canada. Each of Speaker Bureau Canada's talent have different ways to assess their fees, and Cadence Weapon speaker fee ranges depending on the size of the audience, event format (in person or virtual), event location, and if the organization booking them is a non profit, association, government department/government agency or business/corporation. The speakers we work with are flexible with their fees, and it is important for us to learn more about your event before we approach them, as it is our role to work for you, and to help you find a speaker within budget. 

Please contact Speakers Bureau of Canada and provide us with your event details so that we can contact Cadence Weapon to check availability or confirm the pricing and associated costs to hire a great speaker like Cadence Weapon for your event. As Cadence Weapon's agent and as a Canadian top speaker bureau and talent agency for speakers, we are able to propose each event opportunity from each host organization's behalf to try to help you get in touch with Cadence Weapon and confirm them for your in person or online meeting/event. We can also provide and advise on the booking process and potentially negotiate their fee. Speakers Canada is a client focused speaker agency, and we work for you in finding good speakers for your team meetings and booking processes.

Cadence Weapon Disclaimer

Speakers Bureau Canada assists companies and event planning teams seeking to hire talent like Cadence Weapon for speaking engagements, virtual meetings, conference appearances, training sessions and workshops facilitations. Our Canadian speakers bureau does not claim to exclusively represent Cadence Weapon, however they are represented by Speakers Canada, and we work with them closely for their Canadian speaking opportunities and bookings. As Canada's top speaker bureau, we represent Canadian motivational keynote speakers and professional guest speakers that will be available on your upcoming events date and location that are withing the budget. Our talented bureau speaker booking agency can help find business speakers or celebrity speakers that aligns with each organization, audience, event theme and the topic themes you hope for the speaker to address in their presentation. 

When SBC receives a request to book Cadence Weapon we provide you with their speaker fees, travel costs and check their schedules. We work closely with the host organization's event planning team and the speaker to handle the logistics and to relay or negotiate associated costs. Our talented team members then will work with our talent directly or their agent/manager/assistant to confirm the Canadian speaker fee and travel expenses, so that event planning teams can receive an official quote for the speaker appearing at the event. Speaker fees and travel costs vary per speaker and our role is to contact Cadence Weapon about your event, after we have connected with the event organizers to learn all the event details and/or conference program. Each booking request is unique since session durations and audience sizes can vary which may affect the speaker's fees. If you are looking to hire Cadence Weapon, we recommend filling out the booking request form so a booking agent from Speakers Bureau Canada can get in touch with our talent to help you coordinate with your team to engage the speaker for a successful event.